How States Compare and How They Voted in the 2012 Election
October 6, 2014 | Read Time: 2 minutes
This article was updated on March 23, 2016. See our editor’s note.
Giving as a percentage of adjusted gross income ranged from under 2 to more than 6 percent in 2012, with residents of Millard County, Utah, giving the most.
| Rank | State | Rate of giving | Most generous county | Presidential vote in 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 6.61% | Millard | Mitt Romney |
| 2 | Miss. | 5.04% | Noxubee | Mitt Romney |
| 3 | Ala. | 4.87% | Perry | Mitt Romney |
| 4 | Tenn. | 4.63% | Obion | Mitt Romney |
| 5 | Okla. | 4.46% | Cimarron | Mitt Romney |
| 6 | Ga. | 4.31% | Floyd | Mitt Romney |
| 7 | Idaho | 4.20% | Madison | Mitt Romney |
| 8 | S.C. | 4.16% | Hampton | Mitt Romney |
| 9 | Ark. | 4.14% | Dallas | Mitt Romney |
| 10 | D.C. | 4.00% | District of Columbia | Barack Obama |
| 11 | N.C. | 3.79% | Anson | Mitt Romney |
| 12 | Nebr. | 3.67% | Perkins | Mitt Romney |
| 13 | Tex. | 3.59% | Lipscomb | Mitt Romney |
| 14 | Kans. | 3.57% | Chase | Mitt Romney |
| 15 | Ky. | 3.46% | Carlisle | Mitt Romney |
| 16 | S.D. | 3.45% | Jones | Mitt Romney |
| 16 | Wyo. | 3.45% | Lincoln | Mitt Romney |
| 18 | Fla. | 3.38% | Lafayette | Barack Obama |
| 18 | Mo. | 3.38% | Taney | Mitt Romney |
| 20 | Ind. | 3.34% | Wells | Mitt Romney |
| 20 | La. | 3.34% | Bienville | Mitt Romney |
| 22 | Md. | 3.20% | Prince George’s | Barack Obama |
| 23 | Wash. | 3.08% | Adams | Barack Obama |
| 24 | Mich. | 3.07% | Kalamazoo | Barack Obama |
| 25 | Ariz. | 3.06% | Graham | Mitt Romney |
| 26 | Iowa | 3.03% | Sioux | Barack Obama |
| 27 | Mont. | 3.01% | Carter | Mitt Romney |
| 28 | N.M. | 3.00% | Roosevelt | Barack Obama |
| 29 | N.Y. | 2.98% | New York | Barack Obama |
| 30 | Nev. | 2.92% | Lincoln | Barack Obama |
| 31 | Ore. | 2.88% | Malheur | Barack Obama |
| 32 | Colo. | 2.87% | Cheyenne | Barack Obama |
| 33 | Va. | 2.85% | Martinsville City | Barack Obama |
| 34 | W.Va. | 2.83% | Mingo | Mitt Romney |
| 35 | Ohio | 2.82% | Holmes | Barack Obama |
| 36 | Ill. | 2.80% | Pulaski | Barack Obama |
| 37 | Calif. | 2.79% | Siskiyou | Barack Obama |
| 38 | Alaska | 2.78% | Southeast Fairbanks | Mitt Romney |
| 39 | Hawaii | 2.77% | Maui | Barack Obama |
| 40 | Del. | 2.74% | Kent | Barack Obama |
| 41 | Minn. | 2.70% | Stevens | Barack Obama |
| 42 | Penn. | 2.68% | Juniata | Barack Obama |
| 43 | Conn. | 2.58% | Fairfield | Barack Obama |
| 44 | N.D. | 2.54% | Golden Valley | Mitt Romney |
| 45 | Wis. | 2.52% | Door | Barack Obama |
| 46 | Vt. | 2.49% | Lamoille | Barack Obama |
| 47 | Mass. | 2.43% | Suffolk | Barack Obama |
| 48 | R.I. | 2.20% | Bristol | Barack Obama |
| 49 | Maine | 2.13% | Lincoln | Barack Obama |
| 50 | N.J. | 2.12% | Mercer | Barack Obama |
| 51 | N.H. | 1.85% | Grafton | Barack Obama |
Source: Chronicle analysis of Internal Revenue Service data
Editor’s Note: In this and other stories on How America Gives, we used ZIP-code data from the IRS to make comparisons between 2006 and 2012, the only years for which income and charitable donation data were available broken out by income and geography. However, to protect privacy, the IRS suppresses some ZIP-code data when there are fewer than 20 filers in a given income group. As a result, some figures are lower than what they’d otherwise be. The state-level figures reported here have been recalculated to account for this.
Since our original report, we’ve updated our interactive with county-level data for 2012, which do not have any data suppressed. Unfortunately, such data are not available for 2006.
Many of the figures used in this and other How America Gives stories are based on the original 2006 and 2012 ZIP-code data to make those year-over-year comparisons.
For the latest and most accurate 2012 data, see our interactive.
